Special issue (11, 2): Valuing and making visible the labor of coalitional practice: redesigning genres & methodologies for justice-oriented communication design

Issue 11 (2) of CDQ (download a full PDF of the issue here) is the first of two special issues devoted to the importance of justice-oriented, community engaged communication design research. The second issue will be published this fall in volume 11, issue 3 of CDQ. The rest of this page features the titles, authors, and abstracts for each article in the issue.

Special issue introduction (volume 11, issue 2): Community engaged researchers and designers: How we work and what we need

by Timothy R. Amidon, Kristen R. Moore, and Michele Simmons

Abstract: This introductory essay describes the need for clarity and openness surrounding community-engaged research projects, which comprise expertise, efforts, and experiences that often fail to make their way into traditional research accounts and articles.

 Designing public identity: Finding voice in coalitional technical writing with Black-led organizations

by Carrie Grant and Dorian Walker

Abstract: This experience report offers an applied example of coalitional communication design, written collaboratively by a white faculty member for a student grant writing program and a Black executive director of a community organization. Highlighting the needs, thought processes, and practical considerations of doing antiracist technical communication work collaboratively from varied identity positions, we detail an ongoing effort to redesign a Black community organization’s public voice to honor Black humanity and communal healing. This example spotlights the possibilities of coalitional technical writing that deeply engages with and supports community needs, one way to meet the challenge of TPC’s social justice imperative.

Seeking out the stakeholders: Building coalitions to address cultural (in)equity through arts-based, community-engaged research

by Olivia M. Wertz, Kandi Workman, Erin Brock Carlson

Abstract: Artists are an important, but under-recognized, aspect of rural community growth. This research article details a collaborative project between a statewide arts organization and academic researchers in West Virginia designed to document the needs of under-represented artists across the state. We share our theoretical approach that meshes stakeholder and standpoint theory and our research approach that uses participatory and arts-based methods such as asset-mapping and collage-based listening sessions. Ultimately, we provide a model for others interested in research projects that explicitly prioritize coalition-building throughout a project and demonstrate how cultural (in)equity shapes multiple facets of community life.

Community-driven concepts to support TPC coalition building in a post-Roe world

by Maria Novotny, Maya Grobel, Gina Davis, Jennifer Vesbit

Abstract: As threats against reproductive autonomy increase nationally, coalition building serves as an essential practice to advocate for the needs of reproductive persons. This experience report focuses on the work of coalition building for those seeking access to alternative family building services and fertility treatments like in vitro fertilization, which rely upon the availability of donor embryo/s. Our report sheds light on the often unseen moments essential to supporting community-driven coalitional efforts, identifies concepts to guide coalitional practice in technical and professional communication, and underscores the value of slowness in coalitional work despite the increasing threats limiting access to reproductive care.

Making graduate student CER practices visible: Navigating the double-binds of identities, space, and time

by Lydia Allison, Salma Kalim, Christopher Maggio, Megan Schoettler

Abstract: In this dialogue, four recently commenced PhD students discuss and thus expound upon how their community-engaged research shaped their methodologies and vice versa. The four authors explain how they each individually overcame the double-binds of identities, space, and time associated with graduate school and community partnerships. They conclude by detailing how, in overcoming these double-binds, they were able to enact community-engaged practices not only tied to their respective methodologies but also focused on equity and social justice.

 The hidden labor of sustaining community partnerships

by Megan Faver Hartline

Abstract: In this experience report, I discuss the difficult, often hidden, labor of setting up, developing, and maintaining the relationships that are foundational to community-engaged research. Drawing on my own partnership building experiences as a graduate student, a Director of Community Learning, and an Assistant Professor of English, I illuminate the complexities of relationship building while detailing practical examples of how to build and sustain strong community partnerships through three core processes: establishing connections, following through, and growing trust.